Systems Engineer Review

I greatly enjoyed my placement with JLR. I've had great opportunities to develop my skills in my field of work as well as have a great insight into the wider company.

I have been well valued by my colleagues. Consistently being involved in the workflow within my team and having interactions with other areas of the company.

I was provided with a 'buddy' whom I have worked under throughout the duration of the placement. They have been the first point of contact with technical problems I have encountered. My line manager has arranged 1-2-1's with me every month allowing me time to go over any none technical problems and to review progress.

I have worked without deadlines which has worked great as it took time for me to understand and get better at my role when I initially started. Once my skills improved in my job role my workflow increased accordingly as I was assigned jobs via a workflow management system our team use.

I have been fully responsible for my work, which is always peer reviewed and I have had input into defining the working etiquette for the standard work is complete to.

My skills have greatly improved in my field. I have learnt lots from shadowing work colleagues as well as having the opportunity to go on many training courses and attend monthly seminars that explain common topics engineers come across using the software I work with.

There wasn't always the opportunity to have hands on experience with the products we produced. However we did occasionally get access to prototype builds which we could use for testing to make sure our work was to the standards we expect. When we did not have access to these days would regularly be confined to a desk which could get boring.

The placement was reasonably well organised, I had the opportunity to attend tours of other plants used by the company set up by the EGAF (electrical graduates, undergraduates and apprentices forum). As well as take part in out of work activities with the other undergrads. Although management were given little guidance with what undergraduates were, as we were supposed to be given a project to work on throughout the placement which I was never assigned.

Jaguar Land Rover does invest a lot into their placement scheme offering you access to all of the training courses they have and they provide a lead engineer to act as your 'buddy' (someone to shadow and learn from). Also you are assigned a mentor (graduate) who you can ask about the further schemes JLR offer and how the graduate scheme works with the company.

Once the end of year review has been processed the company reviews your job role and accesses if there is a desire for that job role to be fulfilled in which case the graduate scheme is offered once the placement has been completed to the desired standard. If there is no current job role available you are given privilege to attend another assessment center in which you will have to pass in order to get offered the graduate scheme in an alternative job role. Chances of passing the assessment center are greatly increased if the candidate has previously completed a placement with the company.

I did not experience any of the work social scene amongst other placement students as I did not live with other undergraduates, but there are events organised most fridays through EGAF or individual people regularly organise nights out. I have been involved in team events with my work colleagues which are always decent.

I lived at home during my placement so rent was minimal and petrol wasn't too bad as Jaguar Land Rover set up a park and ride system from various pick up locations (birmingham airport, coventry airport, longbridge station). But I understand living close to work - leamington spa is roughly the same as most houses for any inner city uni maybe a little more expensive certainly as you will need a car.

Night life in leamington spa is okay there aren't many options but it is close to coventry which is far better. But leamington does have a student life as it's shared with uni of Warwick

I did not attend many but there are activities set up most fridays with other undergrads/ grads. There are some opportunities to go abroad to the slovakia plant which a few undergrads this year have done although it is centered around work. JLR also take part in the formula student and a few other activities like that which are advertised to everyone at the start of your placement.